About Bing Ads

Bing's share of search traffic is growing

Accreditations

Bing Ads is the pay-per-click (PPC) advertising system operated by Microsoft on the Bing search engine. The Bing search engine is automatically built into the Microsoft Edge browser and currently captures around 10% of all internet searches. With Windows 10 pre-installed on all new Windows laptops and PCs, which includes Edge and therefore Bing, Bing’s market share is increasing, at the expense of Google’s.

How does it work?

While the Bing Ads platform is not quite as sophisticated as Google AdWords, it operates using a similar interface. The auctioning system also uses bid-discounting, ensuring that advertisers only pay enough to beat the competition. Each time an ad is clicked, the advertiser is charged an amount which depends on the competition for the search term.

Why use Bing Ads?

While Optillion does not recommend that businesses begin their PPC campaigns with Bing Ads, it can be useful when run in conjunction with Google AdWords. Although the features of Bing Ads are not quite as comprehensive as AdWords’, ads can still be customised and tailored to appeal to specific audiences.

Bing attracts fewer advertisers because of its size. This results in lower competition for ad space, which reduces the cost-per-click. So while the reach of Bing Ads may not be as extensive, it can potentially offer a better return on advertising spend (ROAS) than Google AdWords.

Also, due to Bing’s older, wealthier, more highly educated demographic, the average Bing user spends 32% more money online than the average Google user, potentially securing higher returns for your business.

It’s often possible to reach a fresh section of your target market on Bing. It’s also worth keeping in mind that some customers will use a combination of Google and Bing when they search for a product.

Bing Ads - right for you?

Bing Ads does not have the reach or the flexibility of Google AdWords, but it can still be a valuable resource to extend the advertising reach of your business.

Optillion has used Bing Ads to achieve successful results for clients. While these may not be on the same scale as the results achieved with Google AdWords, they still represent a significant benefit to many businesses that have exhausted the potential of Google AdWords. Moving to Bing Ads is often a more cost-effective method of expanding your advertising campaign than broadening the reach of your ads on Google.